Anthony Santos has been a manager and director of basketball operations for Titans men’s basketball. Now, he jumps to his new job as an assistant coach of the team. (Photo courtesy of Matt Brown/Cal State Fullerton athletics).

Anthony Santos has been promoted to assistant coach for Cal State Fullerton’s men’s basketball team. Santos spent the last five seasons as the program’s director of basketball operations. Prior to that, he was the team’s manager during his senior year at Cal State Fullerton.

“I am beyond excited to have coach Santos joining us as a fulltime coach,” said Titans head coach Dedrique Taylor in a statement.

“His contributions have been invaluable, including keeping us organized on so many different fronts that are pivotal to our program’s success. He has been with us since we arrived, and has been a part of our growth. I’m anxious to see his imprint on our team and program from the recruiting and on-court coaching aspect as we continue to build the Titan Basketball brand.”

Santos joins the coaching staff that consists of Taylor, associate head coach John Smith and assistant coach Danny Sprinkle.

The Register spoke with Santos about his new role with the Titans.

Q: What does it mean for you to get that assistant coaching gig?

A: I’m from out here, I went to school here, I got my bachelor’s and my master’s here and I’ve just been involved with the program for a long time. I was coaching high school previously, and for me I kind of wanted more of a challenge, so taking a step up and being a manager for a year, and volunteering for the following two years, it was for me to learn. My first three years, we had three different head coaches, so my biggest thing was, “Am I going to be able to stick around?” I never knew, during my first three years, what was going on. I was fortunate enough with coach Taylor to continue to learn and invest in different relationships here on campus. I definitely feel blessed and lucky and thankful for the opportunity to make another jump up.

Q: Can you talk about the work ethic that it required for you to be persistent and not give up on your coaching aspirations?

A: For me, I approached it like, I wanted to learn every day, whether it was what to do, what not do, what I liked, what I didn’t like. It helped me develop who I am as a coach. For me, the way I approached it, if there was something that was going on, maybe a problem, something that needed something, I wanted to be hands on and do it, and take care of whatever the situation was. I was entrenched in the work flow of everything and from one year to the next to the next, literally my work load increased every year. Working with the team, isn’t the only thing I do. I was doing multiple things, I was going to school, I was teaching a class previously, so for me I wanted to find a way to make it work. That was my niche: if anything ever came across as an obstacle or a problem, I wanted to be hands on and work with whomever to kind of get it done and with each new staff, everyone trusted me more and more with different things and I think it’s kind of how position evolved.

Q: What do you love about coaching that has made you want to pursue it as a career?

A: The interaction with our student-athletes and our staff. More so, obviously, our student-athletes because if it wasn’t for them, I definitely would not be here. So being entrenched with those guys and their families, (in my role as director of basketball operations), when we were recruiting, I’d always tell families, “If there’s anything that comes up, I’m most likely the guy to come to.” I’ve been here enough long enough to figure out what it is we need to get done for whatever they asked, or whatever questions they had. I usually had pretty much all the answers, so I just wanted to help them. But for me, it wasn’t just a selling tactic, on the recruits coming here. For me, it really meant trying to get these guys and build a relationship with them and get to know them on a different level. These guys have really allowed me to gain their trust and for me that’s what I wanted. Just because it makes my job easier with them, guys coming into my office, talking about anything and everything. I try to take that as my highest priority because if I don’t have their confidence, what confidence do they have in me?

Q: Last season was promising for Titan basketball. How much does that make you look forward to this upcoming season? Seems like an exciting time for Titan basketball.

I’m definitely excited, especially now for me, I’m allowed to be on the floor with our guys and actually get to coach them up and give them feedback. That’s probably one of the biggest things I’m most excited for, just having a different level of interaction with them. Our guys, after experiencing a taste of success last year, our guys have been hungry for more and those returners that are coming back, it’s trickled down to the new guys, whether its transfers or incoming freshman. It’s an environment we’re working on that’s totally different from years past. I’m just excited to be a part of that.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.